Thursday, March 12, 2015

Black Sand, Not Snowplows, Clearing Fenway

On Monday, April 13th the Red Sox will play their Home Opener against the Washington Nationals at Fenway Park. Since more than nine feet of snow have fallen on the 103-year old field, it's been a major challenge to safely clear the playing surface in time for the opener. The traditional way—snowplows and front-end loaders—are far too intrusive for the 'lyric little bandbox'. Enter high technology! Red Sox groundskeeping guru Dave Mellor is supervising the laying down of over two tons of black sand onto the Fenway surface. The sand has so far "melted" away over 30 inches of snow—its dark color trapping heat from the sun even in sub-freezing temperatures. So, get ready for some true "sand"-lot baseball in 2015.